On the heels of the attacks that left 129 dead and 352 injured, France’s far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, called for the country to “ban Islamist organizations” and “expel foreigners who preach hatred in our country as well as illegal migrants who have nothing to do here”.
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The police source said French authorities had asked other countries in Europe, including Greece, to check on the passport.
Migrants traveling through Europe have been known to buy fake Syrian passports on the black market in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal reported in September that migrants from countries like Iraq and Libya have tried passing themselves off as Syrian because it’s easier to get refugee status as a Syrian.
Having come ashore in Europe in October, the killer spent just six weeks as a refugee before killing in Paris.
A Greek police source said the second man had also registered in Greece, with TV station Mega adding this was also on Leros in August.
The fingerprint on the passport was not in the French database, the senator said, and therefore officials believe he was among a group of refugees and migrants. As many as 1.5 million migrants are expected to arrive in Germany by the end of this year.
There is a likelihood that the passports are fake, CNN reports. Any identity documents and fingerprint records would have to be matched with the remains of the attackers to establish whether they passed through various countries posing as refugees, or perhaps bought or stole passports along the way.
The EU’s eastern-most members have been furious over the refugee resettlement plan agreed in October, calling instead for a stronger outer border to the European Union.
“I would like to invite those in Europe who are trying to change the migration agenda we have adopted…to be serious about this and not to give in to these basic reactions”. “There was no (police) record about him at the time of registration and there was no reason for us to stop him in any way”, she said.
Another passport found at one of the sites of the Paris attacks, and initially linked to the suicide squads, highlighted the dangers of leaping to conclusions in the race to identify the attackers.
Friends of Waleed Abdel Razzak spent much of Friday night and Saturday searching for the 27-year-old Egyptian, who went missing at the football game.
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However, there is no official confirmation the holder of the passport and the individual who attacked the French stadium are the same man. He was in France to support his brother who was seeking treatment for cancer.
